they're protesting the government spending cuts due to kick in at the end of the year as part of the fiscal cliff. >> we don't want to see our public hurt in any way. >> just down the road in washington, d.c., the standoff continues. house speaker john boehner says he's still waiting for president obama to make his next counteroffer to the republican plan he rejected. >> i'm going to need a response from the white house. we can't sit here and negotiate with ourselves. >> the president and boehner spoke on the phone wednesday, but republicans want more. >> we want to sit down with the president. we want to talk specifics. >> whether the talks happen on the phone or in person, here on capitol hill or at the white house, there will be no deal without a compromise on taxes, something that does not appear likely any time soon. >> an obsession to raise taxes is not going to solve the problem. >> treasury secretary timothy geithner said the white house is absolutely willing to go over the fiscal cliff if the gop doesn't agree to raise taxes on the top 2% of earners. while a handful of repub